​The blast occurred even as security had been tightened in the state over the now- cancelled scheduled visit of Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharama to Jammu province on Thursday. The cancelled visit is unrelated to this blast.

Investigators also claim to have obtained voice messages from the cellphone of one of the two youths—Shahnawaz Teli of Kulgam and Abdul Aqib Mallick of Pulwama—in which he is heard talking about some “bada kaam” (something big) and “samaan” (goods).

One soldier was martyred and two terrorists were shot dead in an encounter in Jammu & Kashmir’s Kulgam district Tuesday morning, as per reports. The gunbattle started after terrorists fired upon a team of Army personnel, state police and CRPF who were conducting a search and cordon operation. The incident occurred in Kulgam’s Redwani area, as per news agency ANI.